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Credit & Copyright: Jayanne English &
Ray Norris,
EMU-ASKAP,
DES;
Text:
Jayanne English
(U. Manitoba)
Explanation:
Why would galaxies emit jets that look like ghosts?
And furthermore, why do they appear to be
dancing?
The curled and fluffy jets from the
supermassive black holes at the
centers of two host
galaxies
(top center and lower left) are unlike anything seen before.
They were found by astronomers using the
Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope
when creating maps tracing the evolution of galaxies.
Images preceding this
Evolutionary Map of the Universe survey only showed
amorphous
blobs.
Eventually, comparisons of relative amounts of
energy emitted revealed the glowing elongated structures were
created by
electrons streaming
around magnetic field lines.
Overlaying the
radio data on an
optical view of the sky
(Dark Energy Survey)
confirmed that the
electron streams originated from the
centers of
active galaxies.
Usually such
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) produce
straight jets.
A leading hypothesis for the geometric origin of
these unusually graceful shapes involves the flow of
large-scale intergalactic
winds.
Astrophysicists:
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: active galaxy
Publications with words: active galaxy
See also: